


Miyeok-guk

by justlovely



Series: Adventures in Parenting [3]
Category: To All the Boys I've Loved Before (Movies), To All the Boys I've Loved Before Series - Jenny Han
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25154602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justlovely/pseuds/justlovely
Summary: Miyeok-guk is a Korean seaweed soup. It’s traditionally eaten during birthdays, and also during the first three weeks after giving birth. It’s Korean tradition for new mothers to eat this 3-4x a day during postpartum because of its amazing health benefits. Armed with Margo’s recipe, a grocery list, and ninja like sneakiness, Peter attempts to surprise Lara Jean with this Korean tradition.Stand alone or Part 3 in my series 'Adventures in Parenting'!
Relationships: Peter Kavinsky & Lara Jean Song-Covey, Peter Kavinsky/Lara Jean Song-Covey
Series: Adventures in Parenting [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779664
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	Miyeok-guk

**Author's Note:**

> If you are here after reading my health class type summary, bless you. Guys, I think Peter as a dad might be my most favorite thing to write ever.

Miyeok-guk is a Korean seaweed soup. It’s traditionally eaten during birthdays, and also during Saam-chil-il, directly translated as ‘three-seven-days’ or the first three weeks after giving birth. It’s Korean tradition for new mothers to eat this 3-4x a day during the first few weeks after giving birth because of its amazing health benefits. It helps with lactation, breastmilk supply, and is known to be the best thing for a mother’s recovery postpartum.

* * *

_‘I’ll send you my recipe. Text me if you have any questions.’_

_‘Ok I got it, thanks.’_ Peter whispers into his phone before abruptly hanging up as Lara Jean rounds the corner into the living room.

 _‘Did I just hear Margo?’_ she asks coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his middle.

 _‘No’_ He places his arms on top of hers as he scrambles to come up with an excuse _. ‘It was just a reminder to make an appointment for a 6-month teeth cleaning.’ ‘Oh, ok.’_ Peter mentally breathes out a sigh of relief. _‘Phew’_

_'Hey can you run to the grocery store?’_

_‘Bingo’_ He thinks. _‘Sure, what do you need?’_

***

He examines the picture on his phone, a white recipe card with water colored greenery printed across the top and MSC in gold centered in the middle. He reads over Margo’s ingredient list again, and recites it to himself before walking into the Korean grocery store.

First on Margo’s list in dried seaweed. He knows exactly what this is and where to find it. He goes down the snack aisle and triumphantly throws a large bag of dried seaweed snacks into his cart. Next up is fish sauce and sesame oil. In the condiment aisle, Peter reads over the labels on numerous bottles, checking for a low sodium content - something Margo had stressed repeatedly during their chat.

 _‘Excuse me.’_ Peter looks up from the bottles and sees a petite older Asian woman. She has medium length jet black hair with blunt bangs, and a polite smile on her face. She’s gesturing to his cart, which is notably blocking the aisle and her path. 

_‘Sorry’_ he sheepishly apologizes, moving his cart to the side. She nods at him and passes down the aisle with her basket. The Korean grocery store is small, and Peter sees the women again in the produce section. He notices her eyeing his cart as he picks up a few cloves of garlic, and makes a conscious effort to keep his cart out of the aisle. But as he’s picking up thinly sliced beef brisket, he notices her staring again.

He’s about to head to the check out when he feels a light tap on his shoulder and turns around. It’s the Asian woman from earlier.

_‘Hi, me again.’_

_‘Hi, look I’m sorry about the cart thing from earlier.’_ Peter starts. _‘Oh no, that’s ok. This isn’t about that.’_ His eyebrows furrow in confusion and he eyes her cautiously. _‘I couldn’t help but notice, are you making Miyeok-guk?’_ she asks him.

Peter lets out a shaky breath. _‘Yeah I am actually. It’s my first time making it.’_

 _‘You have the wrong type of seaweed here.’_ She gestures to his snack bag. _‘While this is dried seaweed, what you have here is already cooked, salted, and ready to eat. I can show you where to get the right kind of seaweed for Miyeok-guk, if you’d like.’_

 _‘I had no idea.’_ Peter tells her, because honestly, he didn’t. _‘That would be great. Thank You.’_ He follows her to the dried goods aisle and she hands him a package of dried seaweed. It’s not the paper-thin precut sheets of seaweed that he’s used to – this stuff looks kind of rustic almost. It’s long and thin like dried spaghetti noodles, but it’s stringy and rough - almost looks like raffia ribbon or something Lara Jean would use in a craft. 

_‘This is what I like to use. It’s just dried, so this is as natural as it gets. You don’t have to use the whole strand, just cut off what you want to use.’_

_‘Thank You’_ He accepts the package.

 _‘Are you making this for yourself?’_ she asks him. He can tell she’s curious. She has a familiar glint in her eyes and it reminds him of Lara Jean.

 _‘Uhh no, it’s actually for my wife.’_ He shares with her. They’ve been married for almost three years now, and he still get a thrill out of saying it. _‘My wife’_

The women smiles at him fondly, _‘That is very thoughtful of you. I remember sending my husband to the Korean grocery store. He was so clueless. He never came back with the right ingredients, but he did always bring back something new to try. That and the biggest pack of Yakult’s you can imagine. Those were his favorite.’_ Peter chuckles at this and makes a mental note to grab himself a pack.

 _‘We just had a baby girl. Mia.’_ Peter shares although he isn’t quite sure why. She’s a stranger he just met, but she did share about her own husband, and she also helped him with the seaweed. And there’s something about her that’s warm and familiar. The woman’s eyes light up. _‘Mia, what a beautiful name. Congratulations! Daughters are such a gift. I should know, I have three’_ She beams. _‘I bet she has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?’_

Peter smiles brightly at this. _‘Yes, yes she does. They both do.’_ There’s a brief silence. _‘Thank you again for the help with the seaweed.’_

 _‘You’re very welcome.’_ She tells him _. ‘It was very nice meeting you, Peter.’_ She pats Peter’s shoulder and gives him a smile before heading towards the check out.

* * *

Peter tucks away the last of the ingredients and has just enough time to shove the grocery bags aka the evidence into a drawer as Lara Jean walks into the kitchen. _‘Hey you. How was the store?’_

_‘Good.’_

_‘Did you go to the Korean market too?’_ she asks and panic strikes him. _‘What? No. Why?’_ Her brows furrow and she points to something behind him. He follows her eyes and there, sticking out from the drawer he just closed is the distinctive bag from the Korean grocery store. _‘Busted.’_

_‘Errr actually I did stop by.’_ He concedes.

 _‘Oooo did you get any kimchi?’_ she asks opening the fridge.

_‘Uh no, sorry.’_

_‘Peter Kavinsky, you went to the Korean grocery store all the way across town and you didn’t get any kimchi?’_ she questions him in a dramatic and mock angry voice. The smile pulling at her lips gives her away.

 _‘I got something better.’_ He tells her, spinning her around and grabbing the package of Yakult from the fridge. She rolls her eyes at him. They both turn at the sound of a soft cry on the baby monitor.

 _‘I can get her.’_ he offers.

_‘No that’s ok. I think she’s hungry – its been three hours since she last nursed. Why don’t you get started on dinner? I’ll come down when we’re down._

_‘Deal.’_

* * *

Her mom’s been on her mind a lot lately. She’s always wished she could share the special moments with her, but especially now that she’s become a mom herself. She wishes her mom could be here. For her to share her experiences with. To get advice from. Her dads an OBGYN, so he knows everything there is to know about pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum. And although he tries really hard to play both roles, he isn’t her mom. He hasn’t been through pregnancy and child birth. Well technically he has, he has three daughters after all, but it’s not the same.

When Margo had the twins, Davis and Jude, Lara Jean was away at college. And Margo was living in England at the time, still is. By the time Lara Jean was finally able to fly out and meet the twins, it was already their 100-day celebration. By then Margo had practically mastered motherhood. Out of all the song girls, Margo is the most knowledgeable about Korean culture and customs, then Lara Jean, then Kitty – errrr Katherine. It’s weird that she goes by Katherine now, actually she’s been going by Katherine since high school, but to Lara Jean, she will always be _Kitty_.

And Lara Jean wants to share her Korean heritage with Mia. The only problem is she doesn’t know how. She’s asked Margo about motherhood and whether or not she thinks it would be different if their mom was still around. But Margo’s Margo. She doesn’t like to think about the _‘what ifs’_.

But Lara Jean can’t help but wonder. ‘ _What if her mom was here._ ’ Her mom loved kids, and she loved helping her girls with everything from craft projects and hair dos to fractions and world history. She can easily imagine her mom following her around to force feed her Miyeok-guk multiple times a day, chase her down with socks and mittens to keep the baby warm, and to help her plan the 100-day celebration.

Her dad, Trina, and Peter’s mom have been around, of course. They’ve dropped off meals, stayed for cuddles, and have helped immensely. Peter, her ever supportive husband, has been a rock since day one. He’s been awake with her for every late night and early morning feeding. Even if it’s just to hand Mia to her. And he’s definitely done more than his fair share of dirty diapers. He even runs to the store for everything from nipple cream and diapers, to flour and chocolate chunks for her world-famous cookies. Sometimes he’ll even pick her up a treat from Starbucks without her asking. Lately, it been the pink drink. People say it’s supposed to help with lactation. She’s unsure about that, but it sure is tasty.

It’s a little while later and Lara Jean’s just finished feeding Mia and is about to burp her. She’s adjusting her top when Peter comes in smiling and holding a big bowl. She knew she heard the familiar bang of pots and pans earlier, even from upstairs. Earlier she asked him to get started on dinner. They usually don’t eat till Mia goes to bed, so it’s a little bit odd that he’s already finished and is bringing her something to eat now. She gives him a curious look as he gingerly sets the bowl down on the side table, and places a pink burp cloth over his left shoulder.

 _‘Here, I’ll take her.’_ He offers, gently taking her from LJ’s arms.

 _‘I made you something.’_ He tells her, his head pointing in the direction of the table. He’s standing by the crib, and patting Mia on the back, rocking back and forth on his heels.

She peers over at the bowl. It’s filled to the brim with what looks to be Miyeok-guk, or at least that’s what she thinks it is - examining the sea of seaweed pieces floating around. She hasn’t had Miyeok-guk in such a long time, but it’s all coming back to her now. She remembers how her mom use to make it for every birthday. Her dad tried to keep up with the tradition, but he never got it quite right. And birthday cake always won over seaweed soup. Lara Jean smiles at the happy memory, and feels herself tearing up. She looks over at Peter and he’s looking back at her. He’s nervous. 

_‘It’s Miyeok-guk’_ he tries but butchers the pronunciation. _‘Or at least, that’s what it’s supposed to be. I asked Margo for the recipe, and this woman at the store helped me, but I think I may have added too much seaweed. And I might have oversoaked it too. Honestly, I didn’t know how much it was gonna expand.’_ He’s rambling but she doesn’t notice. The ruckus she heard makes sense now, and she remembers seeing bags from the Korean grocery store across town, and the sound of Margo’s voice earlier, but Peter denied it. _‘Try it.’_

She takes the bowl and lifts it up to her lips, taking a small sip. Her initial taste is bitterness, like medicine, but she swallows it anyways and smiles at him.

 _‘How is it?’_ he rubs the back of his neck, a nervous habit. She takes another sip, this time slightly bigger. 

_‘It’s a little bitter’_ She offers honestly and his face falls a bit. _‘But good. There is a lot of seaweed’ she concedes, ‘But it isn’t oversoaked. It’s just right.’_ Peter beams.

 _‘Thank You, Peter. This…’_ She doesn’t know what to say. _‘This is just what I needed. Thank You.’_

With Mia in his arms, he crosses the room back over to the armchair where Lara Jean is. _‘I know you’ve been missing your mom. I wish I could have meet her. She would have been really proud of you Lara Jean. You’re a great mother.’_ He takes her hand and squeezes it before placing a kiss on her forehead.

_‘She would have loved you.’_

* * *

It’s dark now. The only traces of dinner are the dishes left on the drying rack. Mia is fast asleep. Peter and Lara Jean are cuddled on the couch watching Netflix.

 _‘I want a snack.’_ Lara Jean says suddenly sitting up. _‘Hmm, what kind of snack?’_

_‘I don’t know… surprise me?’_

_‘You got it Covey.’_ Peter comes back with a bowl of microwaved popcorn, the kind of with _‘movie theatre butter’_ and two Yakult’s. Lara Jean is looking at a framed photograph in her hands. _‘We should put this in the nursery, so Mia knows what her grandma looks like.’_

 _‘That’s a great idea.’_ He tells her, trading her the bowl of popcorn for the photo. It’s one he’s seen thousands of times, at Dr. Covey’s house and now in his and Lara Jean’s. It’s her, Margo, and Kitty laying in the grass with their mom. Peter examines the photo closer, and a thought pops in his head.

_‘Wait… did I tell her my name?’_

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys like it! I love reading your comments and feedback, so tell me what you think! :) I’ve also been working on making these a bit longer. Do you prefer a shorter or longer read?


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